Facebook
Inc.
's sprawling campus in Menlo Park, Calif., is so full of cushy perks that some employees may never want to go home. Soon, they'll have that option.

The social network said this week it is working with a local developer to build a $120 million, 394-unit housing community within walking distance of its offices. Called
Anton Menlo,
the 630,000 square-foot rental property will include everything from a sports bar to a doggy day care.

Facebook Inc.'s sprawling campus in Menlo Park, Calif., is so full of cushy perks that some employees may never want to go home. Soon, they'll have that option. Reed Albergotti has details on Lunch Break. Photo: Facebook

Even in Silicon Valley, where tech companies compete to lure coveted engineers with over-the-top perks and offices that resemble adult playgrounds, Facebook's plan breaks new ground.

A Facebook spokeswoman said employee retention wasn't a major factor in the real estate push. "We're certainly excited to have more housing options closer to campus, but we believe that people work at Facebook because what they do is rewarding and they believe in our mission," she said.

The Facebook Life

Amenities for residents of an apartment building Facebook is constructing near its campus:

Some employees had inquired about places to live near the corporate campus, she said, amid a housing shortage in Menlo Park.

Real estate prices are skyrocketing in Silicon Valley, and in San Francisco, up 24% in the fourth quarter of 2012 in the Bay Area, according to
DataQuick
,
a real-estate data firm.

The development conjures up memories of so-called "company towns" at the turn of the 20th century, where American factory workers lived in communities owned by their employer and were provided housing, health care, law enforcement, church and just about every other service necessary.

Spending more time in the clutches of the company sphere isn't necessarily positive. One reason the old company towns eventually disappeared was that they could be overbearing to workers. In the 2013 version, the downside could be unspoken expectations that employees always be working.

Facebook's plans are still a far cry from those steelworker and mining company towns from a century ago. Facebook employees aren't expected to work there for their entire lives. And the new development can only house a maximum of about 10% of its Menlo Park employees.

But the move speaks to how competition is reshaping the role of corporate culture in the tech industry.

"Silicon Valley is in many ways the antithesis of the company town," said
Ajay Agrawal,
a professor of entrepreneurship at University of Toronto. In today's tech industry, Mr. Agrawal says, employees feel less tied to a company, and more tied to the geographical location and industry. They're more likely to switch companies and collaborate on ideas with people outside their own corporation.

One of the downsides of the Silicon Valley model, Mr. Agrawal says, is that if companies believe their employees will likely leave, they won't invest as much in their lives or their development.

"There may be some optimal level between the extreme company town," he says, "and Silicon Valley, where everyone is moving companies."

To build the housing, Facebook's "amenities team" worked with developer St. Anton Partners, a San Francisco Bay area, multi-family real estate developer, to create an environment that mirrors the atmosphere of its corporate campus, where employees are encouraged to mingle and share ideas.

ENLARGE

Rendering of path between the apartments and Facebook's campus.
Facebook

The apartments will go for market rates, and a handful will be set aside for low income residents. All but 15 of the units will be open to non-Facebook employees.

"The beauty of this thing is that it's extremely close to our campus," said
John Tenanes,
Facebook's director of real estate and an architect involved in the planning. "It's a five-minute bike ride" along a dedicated path that runs along the San Francisco bay, he said. "You don't even have to put on the brakes."

One of Facebook's corporate goals is to take care of as many aspects of its employees lives as possible. They don't have to worry about transportation—there's a bus for that. Laundry and dry cleaning? Check. Hairstylists, woodworking classes, bike maintenance. Check.

At Facebook, the company's headquarters are supposed to feel more like a college campus than an office.

The 56-acre parcel, which it moved to in December 2011, will soon be connected to a new wing, designed by architect
Frank Gehry.
There is a winding asphalt road that runs through the center of campus where employees glide through on bicycles.

Throughout the workday, programmers bond with advertising product developers over free lattes or ice cream, walking around the sculptures and shops, or lounging on sun-drenched grassy knolls and park benches.

There is a company game day, where employees run the three-legged race. At night, employees watch movies on a giant, stadium-style outdoor television screen that looms over an open plaza in the middle of campus.

Lauryn Hale,
a Harvard Business School graduate who was hired by Facebook in 2010, said all the amenities take some stress out of the daily job and allow her to think more creatively.

Her favorite thing to do is have a "walking meeting" with another employee, but only after grabbing a frozen yogurt at the sweet shop. "I probably love that too much" she says.

What in the world do people who work at Facebook do for 75 hours a day? I am not too savvy about the tech world, but this seems like a lot of work for a service that does nothing but cut your time on e-mail if you want to show photos of your vacation to 20 friends and 100 other people who couldn't care less. That is the best. The worst is the political "clippings" that people send you about their favorite causes, candidates, enemies, etc. I am perplexed as to how this service is worth billions of dollars and what the workers do there.

Ah the optimism -- gotta love it. Remember (not that long ago) IBM owned golf courses, cushy residential real estate and sprawling resorts? How can we forget 590 Madison? This little company town idea, at FB, shall pass and it will be interesting to see just how long it takes before their assets become a tremendous liability to operating costs.

"Facebook's plans to build a 394-unit housing community near its offices conjure up memories of so-called "company towns" at the turn of the 20th century."

It conjures up memories of the dot com era where people worked 90 hours a week and had no life outside of work (where companies were so proud of how they provided foosball tables for their employee lounges, etc.

That kind of work-24-7 life was OK for start-ups that had a chance at a big payoff, but too many didn't pay off, and Facebook is no longer a start up...

While the fears of the cultish, no work/life balance, burn out quick corporate lifestyle immediately come to mind, when you're talking about 400 units of housing for a company with 5k employees and growing, it seems like less of big deal, and more like they are trying to address some practical problems with their location. Just another offering for a company competing to attract and retain the most talented.

Dividing the 120 million cost by 394 units you get a bit over $300,000 per unit. You could easily sell them for $350,000 a unit in that market and make 394x50,000 or about $20 million. Of course, if they are sold for $400,000, which is cheap in that market, you could clear nearly $40 million.

This should scare the C**P out of any rational person... That Google has become so rich so fast doing nothing more than shuffling "information" should send chills up everyone's spine... The game is over for freedom...

It seems very few people actually read the article:"The apartments will go for market rates, and a handful will be set aside for low income residents. All but 15 of the units will be open to non-Facebook employees."

While FB is developing them, they are going to be open to the public at (ridiculously high) market rates.

Great idea for a non FB share holders like myself. The techies will move from Los Gatos, where they have a shuttle in front of the library, sell their houses, drop real estate values so I can buy before the Pakistani doctors move in to service Obama care.

It reminds me of the dorms that they built in Eastern Europe and the USSR for the factory workers, but nicer and with more amenities. This is a strange vision that the new techies have for their future.

And then they can marry each other in Facebook ceremonies. And have Facebook babies. And the kids can attend Facebook School (all of it on the internet, of course) where they learn programming in addition to Political Correctness. And for low-cost vacations, they'll take virtual Facebook trips around the world in an amazing Facebook IMax theater. And then retire to the Facebook retirement home. And then be cremated in the Facebook Crematorium (takes less space than burial).

It sounds like a military base. Many of these companies are acting like the military. No matter how much one gets paid it is good to have separation between work and home life. That is what separates the military life from the civilian life.

Carrying all eggs in one basket in not good not to mention it is making people in to captive slaves. Hanging out with the boss or other work peers at the pool or gym is not my idea of a work-life balance.

I like this idea personally. I work at a big company and I can't afford to live in the neighborhoods near it. If my company created this type of thing I would move in so that I could walk to work. I hate commuting. It would also have the benefit of being able to network with people.

Imagine hearing this, 'You're fired. Clean out your desk AND your apartment by the end of the day." Talk about a one-two punch. And letting someone live there after they've left the company is not a good idea as the may take out their frustration on the property or other tenants.

This appears to be more like a real estate investment rather than employee housing. It is okay if they want their business facilities to "feel" like a "campus". But they should not call their business location a campus. The word campus must be reserved for colleges and universities. We have words that have explicit definitions for good reason. Campus is one of them. Facebook should apologize for their misuse of the word.

You can bet, if you take a job there, there's some expectation (probably unofficial, yet present) that you live there. And, that you show up to happy hour. And that you meet in the park on Sunday for reading. And that you....

While I recognize the perk attraction of corporate housing in a high-cost area like Palo Alto (live in one myself), I can't imagine living 24/7 among co-workers. Like the faculty villages that some Universities have established, or the factory estates of the UK near the auto plants, it sets up a somewhat closed community. Fine for those that like hive life and want to live and breathe all things FB all the time.

No comparison, have you visited the foxconn factory and their living accommodation. Foxcon employees make less then $12,000 MAX, FB employees probably average around 75 with stock options. Completely different type of skill sets. Facebook is smarter the Foxconn.

Its just a clause which is immaterial; in reality who else would occupy those units other than FB employees and their partners? This seems to be usual practice - companies use such clauses to their advantage (which I'm not opposing at all) -- in bad times they can rent to others, in good times they can house their own employees. Flexible plan!

TJ's hires based upon your happy friendly mood. I figured it out then asked the management. It is one of very few places where a man can talk to children and not be arrested.

If the children can find the stuffed toy they get a treat. Sometimes it is in a simple place. At other times only an ear will be sticking from a cereal box.

The coffee sample and food sample are free. The ingedients of the sample equal $12 - 15. The bananas are less than at WMT. It is free food and entertainment. My credit card reads, Trader Joes, Trader Joes, Goodwill repeat 30 times.

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